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Inmate on death row may know secrets about Jodi Huisentruit case

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) -- The secret of Jodi Huisentruit's disappearance could die with the execution of a notorious Iowa drug kingpin.

Dustin Honken is up for execution for the murder of five people in the 1990s -- and supposedly knows who abducted the television news anchor back in June of 1995.

Steve Ridge is an investigative journalist who's dedicated the last 19 months looking into Jodi's case. Ridge says an accomplice of Honken's, Angela Johnson -- who is also serving time in prison for her part in the murders-- claims that Honken knows who abducted Jodi.

Honken was set to be executed in January, but a U.S. District Court of Appeals intervened, halting the sentence being carried out. Now, with the global pandemic, Ridge says it's unclear when Honken will be executed.

Ridge believes Johnson's claims are something worth checking out.

"The reality is there are so few valuable strands of potential evidence that even exists, given all 25 years later -- that something that powerful and significant as this may sit out there, you do not want to let that get away from you," Ridge said.

Ridge has met with Honken's attorney's about Johnson's claims. He believes there will be an arrest in the case by this June, which marks 25 years since Jodi's disappearance.